Alexander Rossi and ECR, a marriage that already works?

Three weeks after St. Petersburg, theIndyCar is back on track at the Thermal Club circuit in California. For the championship's second visit to this private circuit, there will be no more "million dollar challenge." The race weekend will be identical to the others this season, and will count towards the championship. With 65 laps of a five-kilometer circuit on Sunday, Thermal will bring the same challenges and points as the other sixteen rounds of the season.

For Alexander Rossi, driver of the No. 20 Dallara-Chevrolet for the ECR team, it will also be an opportunity to arrive with higher objectives. In St. Petersburg, on a street circuit that was not Ed Carpenter's team's cup of tea until last year, the desire was to get to know each other and work calmly with the team members. This objective was largely achieved and even exceeded, with a tenth place in Sunday's race. In Thermal, after good tests at Barber Motorsports Park, Rossi and ECR have higher expectations.

“The positives from St. Pete are that the weekend was generally pretty good. I think we’re pretty realistic in the sense that we know that street courses aren’t going to be our strong suit. We realize that the permanent road courses, like Thermal Barber, Indy GP, are the races that we’ve targeted on our schedule and where we know we can be competitive and fight for something pretty cool. I think St. Pete was one of those races that as a group you want to go through together, understand each other’s role, diagnose the things that need to be improved. I think going into Thermal, the focus will be more on finding a result and seeing what we can do.”, explained the former Manor pilot in Formula 1.

Rossi: "We are progressing at a pace that has far exceeded my expectations"

Now 33, Alexander Rossi is competing in his tenth season in IndyCar. Arriving almost by chance in 2016, he quickly made his mark on the season. Rossi won the 500th edition of the Indianapolis 2021 in May. Now a seasoned veteran, he knows his role is to guide ECR to heights that the team no longer achieves with sufficient regularity. Rinus VeeKay scored the team's last victory at the Indianapolis GP in XNUMX. While he could legitimately expect a long road to convincing results, the American admits he was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the organization from the first event of the year.

“It’s going really well. It’s obviously been a constant evolution. It takes a lot to make small steps. But I think we’re progressing at a pace that has far exceeded my expectations. I think there’s a lot of positivity in the team right now. Morale is pretty good. Everything is becoming more positive, on and off the track, for ECR. It’s good to be a part of it. I can’t wait to get back on track this weekend.”

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